Method and apparatus for providing a customer premise based communication system

ABSTRACT

A method and an apparatus for providing a customer premise based feature. For example, the method receives a call directed to a customer, wherein the call is associated with a customer premise based feature. The method then forwards the call to a customer premise based communication system located at a location of the customer, wherein the customer premise based feature is implemented locally by the customer premise based communication system.

The present invention relates generally to communication networks and,more particularly, to a method and apparatus for providing a customerpremise based communication system for controlling and customizingservice features for a phone, e.g., a Voice over Internet Protocol(VoIP) phone, and the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A network service provider may enable customers to access and usevarious call features. For example, a network service provider, e.g., aVoice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service provider, may enablecustomers to access features such as call waiting, call forwarding,three-way calling, etc.

The service provider may store the features that are available for aphone number in a service profile. When a customer accesses the service,the features stored in the service profile may then be applied. Hence,in order to service a customer, the service provider needs to provide adesirable list of features. Unfortunately, developing and introducingfeatures require a tremendous amount of resources. For example, in orderto introduce a new feature, the service provider may need to dedicatevarious resources for identifying a feature that may be appropriate forlarge-scale deployment, for procuring application and/or featureservers, for developing the application and/or feature, for testing thenew feature from both technical and marketing perspectives, and so on.Hence, the features that are available from service providers tend to bebasic, inflexible, and seldom modified.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment, the present invention discloses a method and anapparatus for providing a customer premise based feature. For example,the method receives a call directed to a customer, wherein the call isassociated with a customer premise based feature. The method thenforwards the call to a customer premise based communication systemlocated at a location of the customer, wherein the customer premisebased feature is implemented locally by the customer premise basedcommunication system.

In another embodiment, the method receives a call directed to a customeror a call from the customer, wherein the call is associated with acustomer premise based feature, wherein the call is received by acustomer premise based communication system located at a location of thecustomer. The method then implements the customer premise based featurelocally by the customer premise based communication system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The teaching of the present invention can be readily understood byconsidering the following detailed description in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary network related to the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary network in accordance with oneembodiment of the current invention for providing a customer premisebased feature in a network;

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of a method for providing a customerpremise based feature via a network;

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of a method for providing a customerpremise based feature via a customer premise based communication system;and

FIG. 5 illustrates a high-level block diagram of a general-purposecomputer suitable for use in performing the functions described herein.

To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have beenused, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common tothe figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention broadly discloses a method and apparatus forproviding a customer premise based communication system for controllingand customizing service features for a phone, e.g., a Voice overInternet Protocol (VoIP) phone, and the like. Although the presentinvention is discussed below in the context of Internet Protocol (IP)Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) networks, the present invention is not solimited. Namely, the present invention can be applied to packet networksin general, e.g., Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) networks, Serviceover Internet Protocol (SoIP) networks, and the like.

To better understand the present invention, FIG. 1 illustrates anexample network 100, e.g., an Internet Protocol (IP) MultimediaSubsystem network related to the present invention. An IP network isbroadly defined as a network that uses Internet Protocol to exchangedata packets. Exemplary IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) networks includeInternet protocol (IP) networks such as Voice over Internet Protocol(VoIP) networks, Service over Internet Protocol (SoIP) networks, and thelike.

In one embodiment, the network 100 may comprise a plurality of endpointdevices 102-104 configured for communication with the core IMS network110 (e.g., an IP based core backbone network supported by a serviceprovider) via an access network 101. Similarly, a plurality of endpointdevices 105-107 are configured for communication with the IMS corepacket network 110 via an access network 108. The network elements 109and 111 may serve as gateway servers or edge routers for the network110.

The endpoint devices 102-107 may comprise customer endpoint devices suchas personal computers, laptop computers, Personal Digital Assistants(PDAs), and the like. The access networks 101 and 108 serve as a meansto establish a connection between the endpoint devices 102-107 and theNetwork Elements (NEs) 109 and 111 of the IMS core network 110. Theaccess networks 101 and 108 may each comprise a Digital Subscriber Line(DSL) network, a broadband cable access network, a Local Area Network(LAN), a Wireless Access Network (WAN), a 3^(rd) party network, and thelike. The access networks 101 and 108 may be either directly connectedto NEs 109 and 111 of the IMS core network 110, or indirectly throughanother network.

Some NEs (e.g., NEs 109 and 111) reside at the edge of the IMS coreinfrastructure and interface with customer endpoints over various typesof access networks. An NE that resides at the edge of a coreinfrastructure is typically implemented as an edge router, a mediagateway, a proxy server, a border element, a firewall, a switch, and thelike. An NE may also reside within the network (e.g., NEs 118-120) andmay be used as a SIP server, a core router, or like device.

The IMS core network 110 also comprises a Home Subscriber Server (HSS)127, a Serving—Call Session Control Function (S-CSCF) 121, a MediaServer (MS) 125, and an Application Server 112 that contains a database115. An HSS 127 refers to a network element residing in the controlplane of the IMS network that acts as a central repository of allcustomer specific authorizations, service profiles, preferences, etc.

The S-CSCF 121 resides within the IMS core infrastructure and isconnected to various network elements (e.g., NEs 109 and 111) using theSession Initiation Protocol (SIP) over the underlying IMS based corebackbone network 110. The S-CSCF 121 may be implemented to registerusers and to provide various services (e.g. VoIP services). The S-CSCFinteracts with the appropriate VoIP/SoIP service related applicationsservers (e.g., 112) when necessary. The S-CSCF 121 performs routing andmaintains session timers. The S-CSCF may also interrogate an HSS toretrieve authorization, service information, user profiles, etc. Inorder to complete a call that requires certain service specificfeatures, the S-CSCF may need to interact with various applicationservers (e.g. various VoIP servers). For example, the S-CSCF may need tointeract with another server for translation of an E.164 voice networkaddress into an IP address, and so on.

The Media Server (MS) 125 is a special server that typically handles andterminates media streams to provide services such as announcements,bridges, and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) messages for VoIP serviceapplications. The media server also interacts with customers for mediasession management to accomplish tasks such as process requests.

The application server 112 may comprise any server or computer that iswell known in the art, and the database 115 may be any type ofelectronic collection of data that is also well known in the art. Thoseskilled in the art will realize that the communication system 100 may beexpanded by including additional endpoint devices, access networks,network elements, application servers, etc. without altering the scopeof the present invention.

The above IP network is described to provide an illustrative environmentin which packets for voice and data services are transmitted on IPMultimedia Subsystem (IMS) networks. A network service provider mayenable customers to access and use various call features. For example, anetwork service provider may enable customers to access call featuressuch as call waiting, call forwarding, three-way calling, etc. Theservice provider may store the features that are available for a phonenumber in a service profile. For example, if a customer subscribes to acall waiting feature and a call forwarding feature, the service providermay store the selected (call waiting and call forwarding) features in aserver used for storing customer service profiles. When a customerinitiates or receives a call, the features in the service profile maythen be applied.

In order to service a customer and successfully sell the features tocustomers, the service provider may then need to provide a desirablelist of features. Unfortunately, developing and introducing featuresrequire a tremendous amount of resources, such as resources foridentifying desirable features, resources for procuring applicationand/or feature servers, resources for developing the application and/orfeature, resources for testing the new features, and so on. Hence, thefeatures that are available from service providers tend to be basic,inflexible, and seldom modified.

Customers may wish to have features that are not available through theirservice provider. For example, a feature may be available from a VoIPservice provider, while it is not available from the customers DSLservice provider and so on.

In one embodiment, the current method provides a customer premise basedcommunication system for controlling and customizing service featuresfor a phone, e.g., a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone, and thelike. For example, the method first provides the customer with a VoIPCentral System (VCS). In one embodiment, the VCS refers to a system thatcomprises a SIP server, an application server for service creation, e.g.a Service Creation Environment (SCE) server, and a web server. The VCSmay be implemented in a network device, a module in a network device, orin a plurality of interconnected network devices or modules. The VCS mayalso comprise one or more of a firewall, a router or a switch. In oneembodiment, the VCS may also further comprise one or more interfaces forinterfacing with the service provider. For example, the customer maycommunicate with the service provider via a particular interface andactivate, deactivate and/or modify features provided by the serviceprovider. For example, the customer may modify selections withinfeatures, select new features, and so on.

In one embodiment, the VCS may be a software module that is implementedin a general-purpose computing platform. For example, the VCS functionsmay be implemented in a computer, a gateway router, etc. In oneembodiment, the VCS interface to the service provider may be web based.For example, the customer may be accessing a menu of features located inthe service provider's network via the Internet. In one embodiment, theVCS may include a Graphical User Interface (GUI) for designing and/ormodifying features. For example, the GUI may be used by a customer toselect whether calls are to be forwarded to a voice mailbox, a mobilephone, and so on.

In one embodiment, the SIP server may be used for triggering outboundSIP messages and processing of inbound SIP messages. For example, theSIP server may be used for initiating SIP INVITE messages or receivingSIP INVITE messages. The web server may be used to create Hyper-TextMarkup Language (HTML) pages and also to provide GUI functions at apresentation layer.

In one embodiment, the SCE server may be used for creating and/ormodifying features. For example, a customer may wish to build a new(unique) set of features. For example, a customer may wish to program orcustomize a VoIP feature that forwards calls to a first number of thecustomer to a mobile phone for screening prior to allowing the caller toleave a message. The feature may enable the VCS to receive a call (e.g.,at a customer's home number) and forward the call to the customer'smobile phone before allowing the call to proceed to the customer's voicemailbox. The customer may then indicate to the VCS whether the callshould be forwarded to the voice mailbox or discarded. For example, thecustomer may enter a code via the mobile phone that indicates that thecall is to be forwarded to a voice mailbox. In another example, thecustomer may enter a code via the mobile phone indicating to transferthe call to the mobile phone, so that the customer can answer the callimmediately via the mobile phone. In yet another example, the customermay provide a code via the mobile phone that indicates to the VCS to letthe phone continue ringing without forwarding the call to the voicemailbox or to discard the call.

In one embodiment, the SCE server may enable a customer to control oneor more parameters for customizing an existing feature. For example, acustomer may be able to change the values of one or more parameters tofine-tune (tweak) features to match a desired behavior. For example, acall forwarding feature that forwards calls after four rings may beavailable from the service provider. The customer may prefer delayingthe call forwarding such that calls are forwarded to a mailbox onlyafter more than four rings, e.g., ten rings and so on. The customer maythen be able to change a parameter for the call forwarding featuredownloaded from the service provider to achieve the desired behavior.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary network 200 in accordance with oneembodiment of the current invention for providing a customer premisebased communication system for controlling and customizing servicefeatures for a phone, e.g., a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone,and the like. In one embodiment, the network 200 comprises user endpoint(UE) devices 102, 103 and 104 communicating with an IMS network 110 viaa VCS 204 and an access network 101. In one embodiment, the UE 102 is adevice that may be used to initiate SIP phone calls, e.g., an IP phone.In one embodiment, the UE 103 may be a computing device, e.g., acomputer, that may be used to interact with network devices (e.g.,routers, application servers, etc.) located in the IMS 110. In oneembodiment, the UE 104 is a device that may be used to initiate phonecalls, e.g., an analog phone, via a media server 125. It should be notedthat the customer premise based communication system and the userendpoint devices are located at a location that is local to thecustomer, e.g., a home or an office of the customer.

In one embodiment, the VoIP Central System (VCS) 204 comprises a webserver 230, a SIP server 231, an SCE 232 server, a feature server 233,application servers 234-236, a switch 237, a router 238 and a firewall239. The VCS 204 also comprises one or more RJ11 and RJ45 ports forenabling connection of user endpoint devices to the VCS. For example,the analog phone 104 is connected to the VCS 204 using a RJ 11 port 207.Additionally, the IP phone 102 is connected to the VCS 204 using a RJ45port 205 and the computer 103 is connected to the VCS 204 using a RJ45port 206. The RJ45 port 205, RJ45 port 206, RJ11 port 207, SIP server231 and web server 230 are connected to the switch 237. The switch 237,router 238 and firewall 239 are interconnected to enable the customer toaccess services from the IMS network 110. The application servers234-236 may be used for enabling various customer created or modifiedfeatures, e.g., call forwarding, call waiting, etc. It should be notedthat the components illustrated in the VCS 204 are only exemplary. Assuch, additional components and fewer components can be implementeddepending on the requirements of a particular application.

In one embodiment, when the customer subscribes to a service from theIMS network 110, the service provider assigns the customer a phonenumber (e.g., an E.164 number) and any other credentials required foractivation. The service provider may also provide the customer with aVCS, e.g., VCS 204. The customer may then connect the VCS 204 to the IPphone 102 and computer 103. The customer may then register using theprovided credentials and phone number.

In one embodiment, the customer may then access features provided by theservice provider via the computer 103 and VCS 204. The customer is thenempowered to activate and/or deactivate features as desired. Forexample, the customer may wish to customize some features that may bedownloaded from the service provider's network. For example, thecustomer may be able to alter values of parameters for custom use and,in turn, deactivate usage of a similar feature currently provided by theservice provider. For example, if the customer designs a customized callforwarding feature to suit the need of the customer, then the customermay store the custom designed call forwarding feature locally in theapplication server 234 and, in turn, deactivate the network based callforwarding feature that was being accessed from the network bycommunicating with an HSS 127 located in network 110. In anotherexample, the customer may create his/her features using the SCE server232 and store the specific applications locally in the applicationservers 234-236.

In one embodiment, a service provider may also alter or deactivate acustomer based service feature created or modified by a customer. Inother words, a customer based service feature that was created ormodified by a customer may impact a network of the service providernegatively and/or violate a governmental regulation. For example, acustomer based service feature may create an endless calling loop (e.g.,forwarding a call between two destinations endlessly) or may circumventa monitoring feature specified by a governmental agency. If suchcustomer based service feature is detected, the service provider may atits discretion, alter or deactivate the customer based service featureaccordingly.

In one embodiment, the VCS may also comprise a module or a component ina module (e.g., an application server) for performing virtual testing ofnew or modified features, e.g., to determine whether the customerpremise based feature is in compliance. For example, when a new featureis added, the new feature may conflict with a previous feature or afeature subscribed to from the service provider. The virtual testing maythen be used to identify conflicts and perform remedies beforecommitting a feature or a modification of a feature to implementation.For example, the new or modified feature may have unintended consequenceif committed to implementation prior to testing. The customer may thenwish to verify that the new or modified features will operate asintended and will also operate cohesively with other features. When thevirtual testing is completed, the customer can then commit the featureor modification to implementation.

The customer may then access the customer premise based features usingthe SIP phone 102 or the computer 103. For example, the customer mayinitiate or receive calls with the customer premise based features. Forexample, if the SIP server 231 receives an incoming or an outgoing call,the SIP server 231 consults with the feature server 233 for instruction.In turn, the feature server 233 queries the applicable applicationservers 234-236, depending on the customer's preference for handling thecall. The instructions obtained from the applicable application serverswill then be sent to the SIP server 231 for use in handling the call.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of a method 300 for providing a customerpremise based feature. For example, one or more steps of method 300 canbe performed by a S-CSCF and/or an application server located in an IMScore network 110 as discussed above. Method 300 starts in step 305 andproceeds to step 310.

In step 310, method 300 receives a request for a service with a customerpremise based feature. For example, a customer subscribes to a VoIPservice and indicates a desire to control features locally from thecustomer premise.

In step 320, method 300 provides the customer with a phone number and aVoIP central System (VCS), wherein the VCS is a system that comprises aSession Initiation Protocol (SIP) server, a Service Creation Environment(SCE) server, and a web server. The service provider may also providethe customer credentials needed for service activation. For example, theservice provider may assign the customer an E.164 phone number, apassword, an identification, etc. and ship the VCS to the customer.

In step 330, method 300 receives a request from the VCS for activationof the service with the customer premise based feature. For example, thecustomer may logon to the service provider's network via the VCS, enterthe assigned phone number and any credentials (if applicable), andrequest activation.

In step 340, method 300 activates the service with the customer premisebased feature in accordance with the request. For example, the serviceprovider will activate the service for the customer. The customer maythen be able to initiate and receive calls via the VCS.

In step 350, method 300 receives a call to the customer, wherein thecall is for a service with a customer premise based feature, i.e.,broadly the call is associated with a customer premise based feature.For example, a SIP INVITE signaling message directed towards thecustomer may be received by a S-CSCF of the service provider.

In step 360, method 300 processes the call through a customer premisebased communication system, e.g., the VoIP central System (VCS) locatedlocally to the customer, e.g., located at the customer's premise toimplement a customer premise based feature. For example, if a SIP INVITEsignaling message directed towards the customer is received, the serviceprovider will forward the SIP INVITE signaling message towards the VCSlocated at the customer premise. For example, the service provider mayhave records indicating that the customer has subscribed to a customerpremise based feature service, e.g., by requesting a VCS. In doing so,the service provider will know that the VCS located at the customerpremise will be able to handle and process any customer premise basedfeatures with the help of the VCS. As such, the service provider maysimply forward the signaling message towards the VCS for servicefeatures that are supported locally by the VCS.

In step 370, method 300 determines if an administrative request isreceived from the customer via the VCS. For example, an administrativerequest may be for one or more of: a feature addition, a featuredeletion, a feature modification and/or a virtual test. If anadministrative request is received, the method proceeds to step 380.Otherwise, the method proceeds to step 350 to continue receiving calls.

In one embodiment, the administrative request may be to turn on or toturn off one or more pre-defined features, e.g., a network based servicefeature. For example, the customer may have added a customer premisebased call forwarding feature. The customer may then wish to turn off asubscription to a call forwarding feature being provided from theservice provider's network.

In one embodiment, the administrative request may be to download one ormore customizable features. For example, the customer may wish todownload a customizable feature, thereby allowing the customer tocustomize the feature accordingly, e.g., by selecting values for one ormore parameters. The customized feature may then be implemented andstored locally in the VCS. That is, the customized feature may be addedto the customer premise based features stored in the VCS.

In one embodiment, the administrative request may be to perform avirtual test for a new or modified feature. For example, after buildinga new feature or modifying an existing feature in the VCS, the customermay wish to determine if there are any unintended results and/orconflicts with other features if the newly built or modified feature isimplemented. The customer may then make an administrative request toperform a virtual test for the new or modified feature prior tocommitting the feature to implementation, via the VCS.

In step 380, method 300 processes the administrative request. Forexample, if the request is to cancel a network based call forwardingfeature, the method cancels the network based call forwarding feature.For example, the customer may have built a customized call forwardingfeature in the VCS. The customer may then utilize the customized callforwarding feature locally from the VCS. The method then proceeds tostep 350 to continue receiving calls.

It should be noted that steps 370 and 380 can be deemed as optionalsteps. Furthermore, steps 370 and 380 are not intended to be executedfor each instance that a call is received from the customer or isdirected toward the customer. These steps are illustrated in FIG. 3 toshow that a customer may forward an administrative request to theservice provider.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of a method 400 for providing a customerpremise based feature via a customer premise based communication system.In one embodiment, the customer premise based communication systemcomprises a VoIP Central System (VCS) as discussed above. Method 400starts in step 405 and proceeds to step 410.

In step 410, method 400 receives a call to or from the customer, whereinthe call is for a service with a customer premise based feature. Forexample, a signaling message is directed towards the customer premisebased communication system from a user endpoint 102 or 103, e.g., thecustomer is making an outbound call using one of the user endpoints.Alternatively, the signaling message is directed towards the customerpremise based communication system from a network element of the IMScore network, e.g., the customer is receiving an inbound call directedtowards one of the user endpoints.

In step 420, method 400 processes the call through the customer premisebased communication system, e.g., the VoIP central System (VCS) locatedlocally to the customer, e.g., located at the customer's premise toimplement a customer premise based feature. For example, if a signalingmessage directed towards the customer is received, the customer premisebased communication system may process the received signaling message inaccordance with a customized feature that is maintained and implementedlocally by the customer premise based communication system. Namely, theservice feature logic associated with the customer premise based featureis maintained locally by the customer premise based communicationsystem.

For example, if the signaling message is intended to setup a call to acustomer's endpoint device, but the signaling message is received duringa time that has been specified by the customer as being after hour, thenthe customer premise based communication system may process the receivedsignal message in accordance with an after hour preference or featurethat is locally customized by the customer, e.g., sending the call to avoicemail system, sending the call to a mobile cell phone number,playing a pre-recorded message to the caller, terminating the call,playing a ringing tone to the caller without forwarding the call to thecustomer's endpoint device, and so on.

Alternatively, if a signaling message directed towards the IMS corenetwork is received, the customer premise based communication system mayprocess the received signaling message in accordance with a customizedfeature that is maintained and implemented locally by the customerpremise based communication system. For example, if the signalingmessage is intended to setup a call to a called party specified by acustomer and the customer wants to disguise his or her identity, thenthe customer premise based communication system may process the receivedsignal message in accordance with a disguise identify preference orfeature that is locally customized by the customer, e.g., sending thecall setup signaling message to a network element of the IMS networkwithout an identification of the customer, with a pseudo identificationspecified by the customer, with an instruction to the S-CSCF to omit thecustomer's identification, sending an arbitrarily chosen name, and soon. Once the customer premise based feature has been implemented, e.g.,the associated feature logic has been retrieved and executed, then thecall can be completed accordingly and method 400 ends in step 425.

It should be noted that although not specifically specified, one or moresteps of methods 300 and 400 may include a storing, displaying and/oroutputting step as required for a particular application. In otherwords, any data, records, fields, and/or intermediate results discussedin the method can be stored, displayed and/or outputted to anotherdevice as required for a particular application. Furthermore, steps orblocks in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 that recite a determining operation orinvolve a decision, do not necessarily require that both branches of thedetermining operation be practiced. In other words, one of the branchesof the determining operation can be deemed as an optional step.

FIG. 5 depicts a high-level block diagram of a general-purpose computersuitable for use in performing the functions described herein. Asdepicted in FIG. 5, the system 500 comprises a processor element 502(e.g., a CPU), a memory 504, e.g., random access memory (RAM) and/orread only memory (ROM), a module 505 for providing a customer premisebased feature in a network, and various input/output devices 506 (e.g.,storage devices, including but not limited to, a tape drive, a floppydrive, a hard disk drive or a compact disk drive, a receiver, atransmitter, a speaker, a display, a speech synthesizer, an output port,and a user input device (such as a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, and thelike)).

It should be noted that the present invention can be implemented insoftware and/or in a combination of software and hardware, e.g., usingapplication specific integrated circuits (ASIC), a general purposecomputer or any other hardware equivalents. In one embodiment, thepresent module or process 505 for providing a customer premise basedfeature in a network can be loaded into memory 504 and executed byprocessor 502 to implement the functions as discussed above. As such,the present method 505 for providing a customer premise based feature asdiscussed above in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 (including associated datastructures) of the present invention can be stored on a computerreadable medium, e.g., RAM memory, magnetic or optical drive or disketteand the like.

While various embodiments have been described above, it should beunderstood that they have been presented by way of example only, and notlimitation. Thus, the breadth and scope of a preferred embodiment shouldnot be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, butshould be defined only in accordance with the following claims and theirequivalents.

1. A method for providing a customer premise based feature, comprising:receiving a call directed to a customer, wherein said call is associatedwith a customer premise based feature; and forwarding said call to acustomer premise based communication system located at a location ofsaid customer, wherein said customer premise based feature isimplemented locally by said customer premise based communication system.2. The method of claim 1, wherein said customer premise basedcommunication system comprises at least one of: a Session InitiationProtocol (SIP) server, an application server for service creation, a webserver, or an application server.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein saidcustomer premise based communication system further comprises at leastone of: a firewall, a router, a switch, or an interface.
 4. The methodof claim 1, wherein a service feature logic associated with saidcustomer premise based feature is maintained locally by said customerpremise based communication system.
 5. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving an administrative request from said customerpremise based communication system.
 6. The method of claim 5, whereinsaid administrative request comprises a request to turn on a networkbased service feature, a request to turn off a network based servicefeature, or a request to download a customizable feature.
 7. The methodof claim 1, wherein said customer premise based feature has beencustomized by said customer.
 8. A method for providing a customerpremise based feature, comprising: receiving a call directed to acustomer or a call from said customer, wherein said call is associatedwith a customer premise based feature, wherein said call is received bya customer premise based communication system located at a location ofsaid customer; and implementing said customer premise based featurelocally by said customer premise based communication system.
 9. Themethod of claim 8, wherein said customer premise based communicationsystem comprises at least one of: a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)server, an application server for service creation, a web server, or anapplication server.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein said customerpremise based communication system further comprises at least one of: afirewall, a router, a switch, or an interface.
 11. The method of claim8, wherein a service feature logic associated with said customer premisebased feature is maintained locally by said customer premise basedcommunication system.
 12. The method of claim 8, further comprising:sending an administrative request from said customer premise basedcommunication system to a network element.
 13. The method of claim 12,wherein said administrative request comprises a request to turn on anetwork based service feature, a request to turn off a network basedservice feature, or a request to download a customizable feature. 14.The method of claim 8, wherein said customer premise based communicationsystem further comprises: a module for performing a test to determinesaid customer premise based feature is in compliance.
 15. A customerpremise based communication system for providing a customer premisebased feature, comprising: means for receiving a call directed to acustomer or a call from said customer, wherein said call is associatedwith a customer premise based feature, wherein said call is received bysaid customer premise based communication system located at a locationof said customer; and implementing said customer premise based featurelocally by said customer premise based communication system.
 16. Thecustomer premise based communication system of claim 15, wherein saidcustomer premise based communication system comprises at least one of: aSession Initiation Protocol (SIP) server, an application server forservice creation, a web server, or an application server.
 17. Thecustomer premise based communication system of claim 15, wherein saidcustomer premise based communication system further comprises at leastone of: a firewall, a router, a switch, or an interface.
 18. Thecustomer premise based communication system of claim 15, wherein aservice feature logic associated with said customer premise basedfeature is maintained locally by said customer premise basedcommunication system.
 19. The customer premise based communicationsystem of claim 15, further comprising: means for sending anadministrative request from said customer premise based communicationsystem to a network element, wherein said administrative requestcomprises a request to turn on a network based service feature, arequest to turn off a network based service feature, or a request todownload a customizable feature.
 20. The customer premise basedcommunication system of claim 15, wherein said customer premise basedcommunication system further comprises: a module for performing a testto determine said customer premise based feature is in compliance.